Wild beast
by cuddles1234XD
Summary: when Kowalskis experiment goes off, a beam of light hits Skpr. when the dust has settled and the eyes can see again Skipper is MIA and in his place is a small child This child drives the three guys up a wall. he's a wild child.culd this mimi beast b skpr?
1. Chapter 1

_**I have many different versions of Skipper's childhood. More than I have written about. Most of the time he is portrayed as a very mild child. So I decided to show you what I picture him as if he was a wild child. Without the past part. So sit back relax and release the beast. **_

_**XD and of course my famous last words.**_

_**Enjoy! **_

Everything was pretty normal at the zoo. Skipper was sitting at the table drinking his coffee, Private was watching TV, and Rico was laying in his bunk looking at pictures in a magazine.

Kowalski was working on a time blaster. The time machine he created before didn't work so well. So instead of letting someone jump through time, he was making a blaster that could show you what something looked like years ago. Like a computer. If you blasted it with the time blaster it would become an olden time type writer from the 1900s. He was almost done with it.

Skipper was more or less supervising. He didn't want Kowalski to blow up the zoo. That had happened before. The states characterized it as a terrorist attack. And Kowalski got severe punishment for that. So to prevent a repeat the situation Skipper had taken to supervising Kowalski. And so far there were no problems.

"Skipper I'm not dealing with dangerous chemicals this time. They are just the normal minor explosion causing ones." Kowalski explained. He was really getting tired of feeling Skippers eyes burning into his back. It was very calming.

"Kowalski how can I trust that when you put a whole country on alert durng your last experiment." Skipper countered.

"It's been three months since I did anything. Three agonizing months. I think I've learned my lesson." Kowalski argued.

"Sure you did Kowalski. Sure you did." Skipper replied.

Kowalski sighed. He knew Skipper wasn't going to leave him alone.

Out of anger he spilled a chemical into the machine.

It started buzzing. Then vibrating. It bounced in a circle.

"Kowalski?" Skipper asked unsurely. "Is it supposed to be doing that?"

"N-No. It's not." Kowalski replied.

It stilled pointing at Skipper.

A few minutes later it fired. It fired a long blue bean that shone as bright as the sun forcing everyone to shield their eyes. And it broke the TV.

Then it blew up.

And when the dust had settled. Skipper was gone. In his place was a little kid. Still a penguin. And he had all of his feathers. He wasn't a white fluff in other words. He was coughing uncontrollably. He was about a little taller than Mort. He was a very small penguin. And he had a high Childs voice. And when he opened his eyes they were sapphire blue in color. He was cute. But where did Skipper go?

_**Sorry that it's so short. The next chapter will be longer. :D**_


	2. a little annoyance

They just stared at him as he coughed. Where did Skipper go? And where did this kid come from? After a few minutes he managed to stop coughing. He was out of breath.

"What was that?" He asked. He didn't realize his voice yet. Skipper didn't realize his voice yet. He knew Kowalski would make a mistake. He always did. But that one was different. He felt a tingly sensation before it blew up. He didn't expect that.

"What-What do you mean?" Kowalski asked hesitantly. He still had no idea that he was talking to Skipper. He thought he was making a time blaster. Not a teleportation gun. Where ever Skipper was he was probably mad as a bat right now.

"What do you mean what do I mean. What just happened?" He asked more forcefully. What was wrong with Kowalski? Why was he acting so weird? And why was he so tall. No, Kowalski wasn't tall. The whole room was bigger. Many times bigger. Then he realized what happened. Kowalski had shrunk him. He was now small. Very small. And he didn't like that. He didn't like being so small. .

"Who are you?" Kowalski asked. If he knew who the kid was maybe he could find Skipper.

"Kowalski! What did you do to me!" Skipper shouted. His voice was high and childish. What did Kowalski do! He was a child. He was in his child's body anyway. He recognized his own voice. He remembered it. And he wasn't sure he was going to enjoy the next few days.

"S-S-SK-SKIPPER?" Kowalski asked nervously. He turned Skipper into a child. Now he was going to get it. But Skipper was a child. He wasn't strong anymore. He wasn't very intimidating anymore either. He was cute. And cuddly.

"I know you always said cute and cuddly. But I never thought you would take it this far." Private laughed. He couldn't help it. Skipper was cute. He was itsy bitsy and cute. Cute and cuddly.

"AW." Rico chimed in.

"Stop it! This is all your fault!" Skipper shouted pointing at Kowalski. "I am not a child! I'm still me." He said forcefully. But it just made him sound cuter. And he hated it. The next days would be full of unwanted attention. Plus no one would believe he was still him. He hadn't changed. Except his size and voice. But that was it.

"Of course not Skipper." Kowalski laughed. They were all laughing.

Except Skipper. Skipper was boiling with anger. One because he knew they weren't going to fix him right away. And two because there was nothing he could do about it. He was a weak child. And he could feel how weak he was. But that just made him angrier.

"If you don't stop laughing I swear." He warned.

"What are you going to do cuddle us to death?" Kowalski asked, still laughing. Skipper couldn't do anything. He wasn't in charge anymore.

The laughing attracted Marlene. And the lemurs. They were coming for a visit anyway.

Marlene came through the door and the lemurs down the hatch.

"Hey guys." Marlene said casually. She didn't quite understand what all the commotion was about. But she thought something was missing.

"Ha ha! Silly penguins." Julian pretended to laugh feeling left out of the fun. "Eh, what are you laughing at?" He asked confused.

"OO. I like laughing." Mort said. It was good to laugh.

Marlene noticed Skipper was missing. If he was here the laughing would have been stopped by now. So where was he? And why did he just disappear. It wasn't like him to just vanish. There was no explosions. Well besides Kowalski's invention. But there was no commotion. No fighting. No yelling. No wiz, wiz noise. There was just three penguins laughing. And a very small very cute little penguin. A kid. _A Kid? Wait a minute. Skipper would never let a kid into his hide out. _Marlene thought. Unless that was Skipper. But that couldn't be Skipper. Skipper was a grown penguin. This little guy looked like he just lost his baby feathers. She forgot what that was called. But the little kid was adorable. He was so cute, looking all mad and irritated. But the more she looked at him. The more he resembled Skipper. He had sapphire blue eyes, a slightly flattened head, and he had Skippers look. The cross armed, growling, angry faced. He looked like a miniature version of Skipper.

"Skipper?" She asked skeptically. She really didn't believe that the cute little penguin standing in the middle of the room was Skipper. She half hoped it wouldn't be. But she had to find out.

Skipper heard Marlene. He wished she had visited a little while later. When these morons weren't laughing like hyenas. But reluctantly, he turned and faced her.

"Are you going to laugh out too?" He asked expectantly.

Marlene was shocked. She wasn't going to laugh. She was shocked. She couldn't say anything. The cute little bundle of feathers that was standing in the middle of the room was in fact Skipper. She didn't believe it. That couldn't be Skipper. How did that happen?

Skipper took her lack of response as confusion. "Yes this is me." He said. Hating how high his voice was. "You can talk to me. I'm still Skipper." He really didn't want everybody to think he was a full blown child now. He was Skipper. Just a smaller, higher voiced, extremely weaker, cuter Skipper. And he wanted at least one person who wasn't going to laugh instead of listen. He never thought that being listened to about something like this was ever going to be a problem. But it was. And he needed an adult. Someone who wasn't going to laugh.

"Are you sure you're Skipper?" Marlene asked. "You're so cute" She walked over and picked him up. He was cute. Extremely cute. She couldn't help it.

"Please. Not you too." He whined. He didn't want to be treated like a child.

"Aw but you're so cute." Marlene said. He was adorable. She couldn't believe it was Skipper. It couldn't possibly be Skipper. She laughed. He was cute. And his feathers were soft. They were black and white and hugged him like adult feathers do. But they were a lot softer.

Skipper knew she had fallen for the cute little baby vision too. And he knew everyone else would. But that didn't help at all. Now he was stuck as his child form. And now he might never be an adult again. But maybe there was a way out. Maybe he could make them want to change him back. Maybe. But how?

Julian saw Marlene holding a child. The little penguin was cute. He wanted to hold the child. He scurried over. "Marlene. I see you have a cute little friend." He said casually. "Might I be able to see him?" He asked. He hoped she would get the jist. He wanted to hold the small guy.

Marlene hugged Skipper away from Julian. "No. You'll just hurt him." Marlene replied. Julian had treated mort like a toy and wasn't going to do the same with baby Skipper. He was a child. And children were delicate things.

"Eh. What do you mean no? I am the King! I am to get what I want!" He shouted. He was the king. How dare Marlene say no to him? It was against the rules.

"I mean no. You can't hold him." Marlene repeated.

"Um. How about no one holds me. Yeah let's do that. Why don't we put the cute child down?" Skipper chimed in. he didn't want to be held anymore. He wanted t feel the hard ground on his feet. He didn't want to be hugg3ed or held or cuddled. He wanted to be put down and fixed so he would be adult Skipper. Not adult Skipper in child body. He didn't feel right.

"Fine." Marlene said. She didn't want to put him down. He was so soft and cuddly.

Skipper sighed when he put his feet on the ground. He liked his feet there. On the ground. Where he could walk and run and jump. He felt comfortable there. Until Julian picked him up.

"Hey!" Skipper shouted. He was liking the feel of concrete on his feet.

"Oh. He is soft and full of cutey cuteness." Julian said. He liked this little penguin. He hugged him. "OO! And he is cuddly too!" now he really liked this little penguin.

"Julian!" Skipper whined. He didn't like Julian. And he didn't like the fact that he was being held by Julian. It was creepy. "Put. Me. Down." He grunted as he struggled to get out of Julian's grasp. But he was a weakling. So he couldn't break free.

"Julian put him down!" Marlene ordered. Julian was going to hurt the poor kid. She had forgotten that it was Skipper.

"No!" Julian replied. This little penguin was cute and cuddly and soft. Ad Julian didn't want to put him down. He hugged the little penguin tighter.

Skipper had a bad feeling about what was about to happen. He knew that somehow, he was going to end up against a wall. And since he was a child, a very weak child, he would be against a wall struggling not to cry. He didn't like the thought of that.

"Julian." Marlene warned.

"You do not scare me silly otter." Julian replied confidently.

Marlene waked his arm.

Skipper fell to the ground and Julian yelped.

Skipper took the opportunity and ran away from the two. Then Private picked him up.

And the cute comments continued.

Skipper was happy when night approached. Forcing everyone to retire to their habitats. And forcing the guys to 'put him to bed'. Although, he could've put himself to bed. But he was just glad that the holding, cuddling, adoring thing was done. At least for a little while.

Tomorrow would be another day. And hopefully he would be able to breathe. Hopefully he would be able to convince them that he was still Skipper. The older Skipper. Hopefully he would be able to get changed back tomorrow.

Hopefully.


	3. the coffee tantrum

He felt well rested when he woke up the next morning. And he was glad to see that he was the only one in the room. That was a big relief. But he knew it wouldn't last long. Soon the humans would break for lunch and the would come back down into the HQ and laugh and doodley do him again.

It took him a few minutes to clime the table and get to his cup. And then a few more minutes to get coffee into it. He didn't bother trying to get it back to the table. He drank in right there. Right by the coffee machine.

He was taking a sip when the cup was ripped out of his flippers.

"Hey!" He shouted, still hating is high child voice.

"You can't have coffee." Private said. "It's not good for you."

"What are you talking about?" Skipper shouted annoyed. "I drink my coffee ever day!" He drinks his coffee every day. It was his coffee. It was his favorite drink.

"It's not good fro a child." Kowalski said strictly.

Then Skipper saw it. He was going to be treated like a child. "But it's my coffee. I drink it every day! I'm still the older me! I'm just in my child's body! And when you change me back I'll be me again!" Skipper yelled annoyed. And Angry.

"Ok." Kowalski said like a parent would when they aren't going to pay attention to what you just said. "But for now no coffee."

"Give me my cup!" Skipper shouted. They could talk to him like he was a child. They could hug him like he was a child. They could send him to bed and punish him like he was a child. But taking his coffee went too far. He needed his coffee.

"No. you can't have any coffee." Kowalski said more seriously.

Skipper stood and balled his fists. He glared at Kowalski. "Give. Me . My. CUP!" He shouted, closing his eyes as he did so.

"Don't yell at me." Kowalski replied. "You are going to have to live with out the coffee. You don't need it."

"Yes I DO!" Skipper screamed. He wasn't going to let them push him around just because he looked and sounded like a child. He wasn't one.

"Don't give me that tone of voice mister." Kowalski said warningly.

"You want to treat me like a child Kowalski!" Skipper challenged.

"You are a child!" He shouted back.

"FINE! Then I'll act like one!" Skipper shouted angrily. He took a deep breath. He might actually enjoy this. "GIVE ME MY COFFEE! GIMME GIMME GIMME! IT'S MINE! MINE MINE MINE! GIVE IT BACK! YOU CAN'T TAKE IT! IT'S MINE! YOU CAN'T HAVE IT! IT'S MINE! GIVE IT BACK! GIVE IT BACK! GIVE IT BACK!" He screamed. Yes. He threw a temper tantrum. "GIVE ME MY COFFEE CUP!"

Kowalski didn't know how to react to that. he never had to deal with a child's temper tantrum before. he never threw temper tantrums as a kid. "Um...uh."

"GIVE ME MY COFFEE!" Skipper shouted.

Marlene was attracted by the screaming. She came in and immediately knew where the screaming had come from.

"No. You are not going to get what you want that way." Private said forcefully.

"GIVE ME MY COFFEE! I WANT IT I WANT IT! I WANT IT! GIMME IT!" Skipper shouted in response.

"NO!" Kowalski shouted. He couldn't take it anymore. Skipper was giving him a head ach. "You can't have the coffee! And you'll just have to DEAL WITH IT!"

Everything was silent for a minute.

Marlene thought that Kowalski had won.

"GIVE ME MY COFFEE!" Skipper shouted as loud as he could.

"You can't have the coffee! You can throw all the temper tantrums you want. But you're not getting the coffee." Kowalski said calmly. "I'm sorry Skipper. But you are not allowed to have any coffee any more." He put Skipper's cup on a high ledge. "No coffee."

"Yes Coffee!" Skipper said, still loud but not shouting. He needed the coffee. He was standing next to the coffee machine. He looked over at the machine. Kowalski had made it so it would run endlessly, making coffee, for twelve minutes. That was a lot of coffee. There was a button half way up. If you held it down the coffee came out. Endlessly.

Skipper glared at Kowalski. Then gave him an evil smile. He put his flipper over the button.

Kowalski's eyes widened. That little button could produce a big amount of coffee. "Don't you dare." He warned.

Skipper laughed. "Coffee!" He said and pushed the button. Coffee immediately rushed out, surrounding his feet and falling towards the floor like a waterfall. Skipper laughed. "COFFEE!"

"No!" Kowalski shouted. How were they going to clean that up?

The three of them stood there like idiots as the coffee spread across the floor.

"You idiots." Marlene said. She walked up to them and slapped them. "We're the adults. He's the child! He's not in charge!"

Skipper was still holding down the button with an 'I did it." Smile on his face. The bad 'I did it' smile.

"We are." Marlene walked over to Skipper, who stuck his tongue out at her, and grabbed him by the scruff of his neck. She pulled him up into the air.

The coffee immediately stopped pouring out of the machine.

"Hey! Ow!" He shouted. He kicked and squirmed trying to break free.

Marlene looked at them with raised eye brows. "Get it now?" she pointed at Skipper, "Child." She pointed at herself. "Adult." She pointed at them "In charge" She pointed at Skipper again. "Not in charge. Get it?"

Kowalski nodded. "Yes. I think we got it now."

"Good. Then I think I can leave you to the punishing." She walked by Kowalski, handing him Skipper, and walked out.

Kowalski held Skipper out in front of him and glared at him.

Skipper laughed nervously, giving Kowalski a nervous smile.

They both knew what was going to happen next. It was either a beating. Or a spanking.

So Skipper got his butt beaten. He got spanked. And as his wreaked child form. It hurt. It made him cry. He hadn't done that in a long time.

He stood there staring at Kowalski with red eyes, sobbing, rubbing his butt. Everything was blurry because of the tears in his eyes. His cheeks were wet from crying. His throat hurt. His butt still hurt.

Kowalski stood looking down at Skipper with his eyebrows pinched together and his flippers on his hips. "Next time listen. And don't throw a little hissy fit." Kowalski said with authority.

"I'm sorry." Skipper sobbed. He hugged Kowalski's leg.

Kowalski couldn't stay mad at that,

Skipper said he would act like he was a child. And he was going to stay true to his word. Children were beasts. Bu they were also angels. That is why a good guardian could never stay mad at a child. Because they were little angels.

Of course their devil side was what made the guardian angry. Some kids had very devilish devil sides.


	4. cake

_**I'm sorry it's taken me so long to update. Been having trouble moving it along. ^/_/^. But I was able to get some thoughts together. So here's the next chapt.**_

_**Enjoy!**_

Skipper stayed inside the whole day. He didn't want to. He wanted to go out and do what he always did. He didn't want to stay inside and do…nothing. But the guys had said it would arouse to much suspicion, and there was no use in arguing. Kowalski had appointed himself as the new leader. And no one complained. Except for Skipper, of course. But it didn't change anything so he quickly gave up.

Alice thought it was weird to only see three penguins. But she didn't give it much thought and moved on.

Everyone went about their normal business. Entertaining the humans and acting cute.

But Skipper had nothing to do. He was so used to his normal routine that not being able to do it felt so weird. So wrong. His natural calling told him to do the normal activities. But his child calling told him to sleep the day away. He didn't want to just sleep, it wasn't normal for him. Eventually he gave into his child calling and took a nap. There was nothing else for him to do. He couldn't drink coffee. He couldn't reach his cup. And Kowalski had disassembled the coffee machine. Kowalski had hidden the remote for the TV (To Skippers despair). So he took a nap. It took him a few minutes to jump up to the bottom bunk and pull himself in, though. He curled up on top of the blanket and settled his head on a pillow. All in all, it was pretty comfortable.

Private came in at noon to check on Skipper. He smiled when he saw him. Skipper was lying in the bottom bunk, sleeping. He looked so cute. A little bundle of black and white all curled up. Private watched him for a few seconds. His little body breathing. Preciousness. Purely. Well that's what he thought anyway. He thought a lot of things were cute and precious.

He climbed the ladder, opened the latch door and called for Kowalski. He had to see it. He had a rough start with Skipper. Maybe seeing this will set things straight. Skipper did warn that he would act like a kid after all.

"What Private?" Kowalski asked, still annoyed at what happened in the morning. It took them almost an hour to clean up Skippers mess. He should've cleaned it. But Private said no, a butt beating was enough. Kowalski didn't think so. Skipper would've deserved to clean his mess up. He was still annoyed at Private.

"You should see this." Private replied calmly.

"See what?" Kowalski asked harshly.

"Just come down." Private said jumping off the ladder.

Kowalski sighed. Private was hard to work with sometimes. "I'll be right back Rico." He said over his shoulder, jumping down into the HQ.

Private was standing there smiling at him.

"What?" Kowalski asked wanting to see whatever it was Private wanted him to see and get back out.

Private pointed at Skipper.

Kowalski looked at Skipper. He was sleeping in the bottom bunk, curled into a little ball. He was still ticked off. Skipper was a real devil so far. He was cute, Kowalski gave him that. That's why Rico and Private forgave him so quickly, But Kowalski wasn't buying it. Not for one second. Skipper was a child now, children have their ways of getting things. He just saw it. Skipper would play someone and get something that he wasn't supposed to have, and then he would drive the three of them up a wall. It wasn't happening. Kowalski would make sure of it. He was cute now, sure. But later…oh, later he wouldn't be so cute. "So he's sleeping. And?" Kowalski asked impatiently.

Private just stared at him. Kowalski really needed to learn how to forgive. Skipper said that if he was going to be treated like a child he would act like one. Children were patience testers, tolerance testers. They made mistakes, but everyone does. Above all else, children needed to be cared for, their mistakes forgiven. Private saw a very bad relationship forming between Skipper and Kowalski. And he didn't like it, not one bit. "Never mind Kowalski." He replied disgusted. Kowalski might have appointed himself the new temporary leader, Private really didn't have too big a problem with that. But he appointed himself Skippers shield against Kowalski. He had a bad feeling that Skipper was going to need one.

He shook his head and climbed back up the ladder. Before he left he looked back down at Kowalski. "You don't have to like him Kowalski," He said, "but could you at least forgive him?" He jumped out.

Kowalski looked back at Skipper. He was vibrating. Why would he do that? Kowalski walked up closer to him. No, he wasn't vibrating, he was shivering. He was cold. Kowalski looked down, _You don't have to like him, but could you at least forgive him?_ Private's voice repeated in his head. He couldn't leave Skipper shivering like that. It wasn't right, it was mean, and above that, it was inhumane to leave a child shivering. Kowalski reached for the blanket underneath Skipper, but stopped. That would wake him up, and he couldn't do that. He took the blanket from another bunk and covered Skipper with it. Skipper almost immediately stopped shivering and pulled the blanket tighter around himself.

Kowalski smiled, he really was cute. He went to the ladder and grab ahold of the cold metal. He climbed halfway when he head Skipper speak.

"Tank you Walski." He squeaked sluggishly. He fell back to sleep.

Kowalski froze and looked down at Skipper. He couldn't help smiling, that was too cute. He then had to shake it off. Children were angels and devils. The devil side would come out eventually. He climbed the rest of the ladder and joined the guys at waving goodbye to the morning crowd

Skipper woke up at four o'clock in the afternoon. He felt well rested. He hadn't felt that way in a while. He had never slept for more than five hours a day. Not fully anyhow. And he had a good dream. A very childish dream though. He dreamed he was in a valley, but not just any valley. An ice cream valley with vanilla mountains, cherry avalanches, chocolate volcanoes, with hot fudge lava, mint chocolate chip hills, and edible grass dotting it. And it all tasted so real. He could even taste the sugary sweat aftertaste. But then he woke up. It was such an awesome dream.

The zoo would close in two hours. Skipper still had some time to burn. The guys wouldn't be back down until the zoo was officially closed. He could do anything he wanted. Anything. Skipper thought about maybe taking some sticks and banging on stuff. But that seemed too boring. He could look for the remote for the TV, but that would take too much time. He could look for the radio, it was probably somewhere in the closet in the hallway. It would be hard to get to in his current form anyway. Plus he'd probably make a lot of noise, which would attract Kowalski, who wouldn't be too happy. He didn't need another butt beating. Which was almost guaranteed if he made a mess of the closet. That sucked. Anything and everything he did had to be ok by Kowalski or he'd be in trouble. The usual child trouble, yelled at, sent to a corner or room, or what had happened before. Spanking.

Skipper didn't know what to do, but he was getting very bored. He decided to take a break from thinking. He was hungry, maybe after eating something he'd be able to think clearer. He went to the refrigerator and pulled it open. It took him two tries, for the door was quite heavy for him. It was annoying how much he couldn't do in his child form. He looked up at the massive inside of the refrigerator. There were fishcakes, sushi, fish, a few juice boxes, some soda, a half-eaten cupcake, shrimp, and cake sitting on a glass plate.

Skipper looked over the contents of the fridge another few times. His eyes fell onto one object. The cake. Ever since he saw it the first time he'd wanted it. But it was a full cake, he probably couldn't finish it all. And Kowalski probably didn't want him to eat it all. Probably didn't want him to eat any. He was never given permission to eat the cake. Then again, Kowalski never told him that he couldn't have the cake. And it did look awful yummy sitting on the top shelf…all alone. It was probably very lonely, alone on the shelf. It would probably love to be eaten. That's what cakes were made for. To be enjoyed and eaten. So, why shouldn't eat it? It was made to be eaten, not left alone on the top shelf of the refrigerator.

Skipper tried to fight the temptation. "No, no cake. Don't eat the cake," He told himself, "Sure, it's a perfectly round, with vanilla and chocolate swirly icing, chocolate and rainbow sprinkles, fondue stars, with fudge chunks sticking out of the side, cake. B-b-bu-bu-but-but it's not made for-for-for-for you. No, it's not yours." Unfortunately, that failed. "But's it looks awful lonely on that shelf. It looks yummy to. Maybe-maybe, I-I could have just…one bite. It couldn't really hurt." He couldn't help it. Cake was a favorite dessert. And that specific cake, that he was staring at, looked very, very yummy. Maybe it didn't taste as good as it looked. But he absolutely had to find out.

He climbed up to the shelf and sat next to the cake. And then it hit him. He didn't have any means of carrying the cake out of the refrigerator. He couldn't build anything, he didn't know how. He couldn't lower the cake out, he was too small. He had climbed all the way up here for nothing. What was he supposed to do? Eat it in the refrigerator?

"Stupid!" Skipper said slapping his flipper to his face. He could just eat the cake in the refrigerator. It was easy, fast, and he wouldn't have to go anywhere.

So he sat in the refrigerator and ate the cake. It was even more delicious than he could ever hope. Easily the best cake he'd ever eaten. All the sprinkles tasted sugary sweet, the icing was very sweet as well. What topped everything off, was the fudge. Even though it was cold, it still basically melted in his mouth. It didn't take him long to finish the cake.

And when he was done with every morsel of sugary goodness, he was absolutely, without a doubt, sugar high. It was like being drunk. Only it didn't slow him down or slur his speech, it sped him up and his talking too. He couldn't think straight, he couldn't do anything slowly. Everything was slightly blurred, and very bright. He felt like a rocket ready to explode. He had the sudden urge to jump up and run around.

But he forgot a few things. He still wasn't sure if he was allowed to have the cake, whether he realized it or not, He was still in the refrigerator, and the plate that held the cake was made of glass. The cake might've been gone, but the plate was still there.

So, when he jumped up, his feet hit the slimy plate, causing him to trip, which sent both him and the plate flying downwards towards the floor. The plate crashed into a million pieces and he fell flat on his back. A few small pieces of broken glass lodged into his back, but he didn't feel it. He was in a sugar high, commonly known to adults as a major sugar rush. He jumped back up and ran around the room, clueless as to what else to do with his hyperness. He ran into the TV, breaking the screen, and continued to run around. He ran into walls and the doors, and one other thing… legs.

To be more specific Kowalski's legs. A very shocked, very angry, very annoyed, Kowalski.


	5. aftermath

Kowalski looked down at Skipper. Then he looked around the room. The T.V. was smashed in, there was glass scattered on the floor in front of the refrigerator, one of the table legs were missing, the chair was knocked over, there were multiple indents along the walls and one in the door. He looked back down at Skipper, but he wasn't there. Kowalski looked back up to see that Skipper was running wildly around the room running into walls, chairs, doors, and other objects. He was filled with anger. Furious. Skipper was a maniac. And he was going to clean this up this time. How did he get so hyper?

Kowalski studied Skipper as he ran around the room. He thought he saw something. White on his beak. Kowalski walked over to the refrigerator, being careful not to step on any glass, and looked inside. The cake was missing. Skipper went into the refrigerator and ate the cake. Now it all made sense. But Skipper knew he wasn't supposed to have it. He wasn't told not to have it, but he knew. Kowalski was sure of it. Last night Rico and Kowalski had fought over it. Rico wanted to eat it right away, but Kowalski told him not to. He didn't know when they would have the cake. But Skipper was there. It was right before they put him to bed. That's why they put him to bed.

But he had eaten it. And now he was hyper. And Kowalski blew up.

"SKIIIIPPPEEERRRR!" He shouted angrily. He was breathing heavily, ready to kill Skipper.

Skipper stopped short, his control and ability to think straight flying back to him. He turned wearily towards Kowalski. And regretted it. Kowalski looked like he was ready to kill him. Literally. Kowalski was going to kill him. He was filled with fear. It was like staring into the mouth of a sea lion and having nowhere to go. He felt cornered, stuck. He actually felt like he was going to die. Kowalski had his flippers in fists, eyes of hatred, glaring at Skipper. Skipper felt like he was looking into the eyes of the devil.

Returning momentarily to his adult mind, he really felt bad for whoever had to be Kowalski's child.

Back to his child mind, he did what children do best. Screamed bloody murder and high tailed it out of there. Pulling the door open, he ran full force, as fast as he could. He didn't know where to go, or who to go to. What he did know was that Kowalski could. Not. Get to him. He had to stay away from Kowalski at all costs. He had to find something that would protect him.

It took Kowalski a split second to shake off the shock of Skipper scream and bolt after him. He was filled with anger. Adrenalin pumping, the want to punish Skipper so badly that he would never do anything without asking ever again. And that was the good want. Skipper better run. He'd be dead if he didn't

Private jumped down into the HQ a second too late. He saw Skipper run out and Kowalski take off right behind him. He could try to help, but Kowalski was stronger than him and would probably plow right through him. All he could do was hope and pray that Skipper could keep away from Kowalski long enough for Kowalski to cool down. Taking from the way he screamed, Kowalski wouldn't be calming down any time soon.

Skipper could hear Kowalski behind him. Running like a mad hound. He was mad alright. Skipper had to fear on his side, but Kowalski had anger. And he was taller, his legs covered more distance. He needed to find protection.

He ran from Kowalski all over the zoo. And was able to keep a big distance from him to. But slowly, inch by inch, that distance began to close. Kowalski was getting faster, or he was getting slower. It didn't matter, what mattered was the fact that Kowalski was catching up. He had to find something to protect him with or he'd be dead.

He looked for a way out. There was a wall coming up. Straight ahead. But it wasn't just any wall. It was the otter habitat. Marlene! She'd protect him.

Skipper ran as fast as his tired legs would take him to get some speed. When he was close enough, he jumped. As hard as he could he pushed himself off the ground, barely grazing the top of the wall. He fell into the pond and swan to the edge. As he climbed up he heard a splash behind him. Kowalski was real close now. Without looking back he ran into Marlene's room and quickly looked around. She was putting flowers on a shelf next to her bed. Skipper ran to her and jumped onto her back.

"Marlene, Marlene! Help me! He wants to hurt me!" He cried. Literally, there were tears of fear streaming down the feathers on his cheeks. He was scared, very much so. Kowalski could kill him. He was afraid of just how he might do that. He didn't want to go through it. He didn't want to get hurt by Kowalski. He was afraid of the pain.

Marlene was startled by the sudden jerk to her back. Even more so by the cry of Skipper, and the words that he had cried. Whatever it was, Skipper was terrified of it. She felt extremely bad for him. Sad herself. Who would want to hurt such a cute, innocent little penguin? Who would want to hurt a child? She reached behind her back and pulled Skipper over her head. She cradled him in her arms, attempting to calm his crying. She noticed the little pieces of glass in his back and carefully pulled them out. He was crying to hard already for her to make out if he felt any pain from it. She had to calm him down. "It's ok. He can't get you now. I'll make sure of it. It's alright. You're alright," She reassured softly. She brought him up to her shoulder and rocked back and forth, watching the door to see who was after him.

Skipper wrapped his arms around Marlene's neck and tried to calm himself. He was safe now. He was safe now. Marlene would protect him. She wouldn't let Kowalski hurt him. He was absolutely sure of it. But he couldn't calm himself. He couldn't stop crying, or shaking in fear. He didn't want to cry anymore. He was getting Marlene's fur all wet. But then there was the thought. What if Kowalski could get to him? He was stronger than Marlene. He could easily rip him out of her arms. Skipper tried not to think about it. He tried to think of how he needed to stop crying because Marlene's fur was getting wet.

Marlene tried to think of who would scare Skipper so much. Bad and Bing could, but they had hearts and would've stopped chasing him soon after he started to run. The chimps were to kind. Julian would chase him, but not instill so much fear. The other lemurs wouldn't scare Skipper like this. The flamingo's would've stopped after he left their habitat, so would Joey. Leonard wouldn't have chased him at all. Burt's too nice. Roy would've felt bad and stop chasing him. The reptiles were all behind glass so they were out of the picture. All that left was the penguins. Private had too big of a heart and couldn't really scare anyone. And Rico secretly had a soft spot for children. That just left…

Kowalski bolted into the room. But stopped when he saw Marlene holding Skipper…who was crying hysterically.

"Kowalski!" Marlene scolded. "How could you do this to him?"

"Marlene, I-I-" Kowalski stammered. He didn't know what to say. Marlene was looking at him disgusted. She was ashamed, he could see it in her eyes.

"How could you scare him like this? What did he do to deserve this?" She demanded, holding Skipper a little tighter. She turned slightly so Skipper would be farther away from Kowalski. She didn't want him to get to Skipper.

Kowalski's anger came shooting back to him. "What did he do? I'll tell you what he did. He destroyed the HQ that's what he did. He broke the table, the chair, the T.V., smashed holes in the walls and the door. He ruined the place. He deserves to be punished!"

"Not like this!" Marlene shot back. "Kowalski he's terrified! He can't even stop crying!"

"Good. He deserves to cry. He needs to be afraid. He should be. He has everyone fooled! He's not an angel," Kowalski spat, annoyed.

Marlene couldn't believe her ears. How could he think such things? How could he be so heartless? Skipper wasn't an angel, no. But he was sweet, even as an adult he had his moments of sweetness. He was nice and caring and at least he had a heart. But he made mistakes. And Kowalski needed to learn that. "Don't you have a hear Kowalski?" She asked. "Don't you see that he's not all bad? Or have you already fallen for you own corrupt mind?"

Kowalski didn't reply. He was angry, but ashamed. Somehow his anger made him confused about his shame. He thought that he had a right to be angry. The right to think his own thoughts. But what if Marlene was right.

Marlene took his silence as a yes. He was heartless, thought Skipper was all bad, fallen for his own corrupt thoughts. "Get out of my home Kowalski. Skipper is staying with me tonight. You can't be trusted," She said disgusted.

Kowalski didn't move. More anger was building up in him. Marlene was mad at him now, disgusted by him. And it was all Skippers fault.

"Leave," Marlene repeated.

Kowalski stormed out, growling and cursing under his breath.

Marlene sat Skipper down on her bed and laid a blanket on the floor. Skipper had stopped hysterically crying, but he was still moaning and sniffling. He was still shaking a little bit too. Marlene was shocked, and disgusted by Kowalski. She thought that he had a heart, that he could see the good in Skipper. But she was wrong. And now she had to protect Skipper from him. So he didn't get hurt. So he didn't have to be afraid.

Skipper didn't know what to feel towards Kowalski. He was still very much afraid. He still couldn't stop crying, although he really wanted to. His eyes were stinging and his throat was really starting to hurt. His stomach hurt to. That's What happens when you cry. You cry because you are afraid or in pain. And then you get new pain to distract you from the old. It sometimes doesn't work. The only thing that was making him calm down was Marlene. As long as she was there, Kowalski wasn't going to hurt him. He could trust her. He knew that while he slept she would watch over him. That would really help him sleep tonight. He just hoped that she would get some sleep too.

Marlene put down a pillow for Skipper to rest his head on, then went back over and sat down next to him.

Skipper was still afraid, even though he knew that Kowalski would not return to the otter habitat tonight. He climbed onto Marlene's lap for comfort.

She didn't mind. In fact, she knew exactly why he was on her lap. Kowalski had really terrified him. Skipper didn't deserve to be frightened like that.

Skipper wanted to think of something happy. He didn't want to feel afraid anymore. Suddenly his dream on ice cream popped into his head. He leaned back on Marlene. "I had a nap today," he announced.

"A nap?" Marlene asked, "And did you have a dream?"

"Uh, huh," Skipper replied, calming down more.

"What was it about?" Marlene asked. She was actually interested in what Skipper had dreamed. Many times what children dreamed about was just pushed away by adults. But children found their dreams to be very good. Or of course, very frightening.

"I dreamed of ice cream," Skipper reported.

"Ice cream?" Marlene laughed. "Was it yummy?"

"Oh yes, very yummy," Skipper replied nodding his head.

"Was there… hot fudge?" Marlene asked.

"Yeah. It came out of a chocolate volcano!" Skipper replied excitedly. "And there were banila mountains with cherry avalanches and-"

"Cherry avalanches? I thought it was strawberry?"

"Nope. In my dream they were cherries. I know cuz there were two of dem attached with a red stem," Skipper explained.

"Okay," Marlene laughed. Skipper was cute. She didn't know how Kowalski could be so mad at him. Maybe if he listened to Skipper he wouldn't get so mad. Because Skipper was cute. The cute that made you laugh a lot.

"And there was mint chocolate chip hills. It was all so yummy. I tasted every flavor. The hot fudge even was molten deliciousness in my mouth. But then a woked up," Skipper pouted, "The ice cream was all gone."

"Aw, too bad. It seemed like a very nice place to be," Marlene said sympathetically. It was getting late, Skipper was probably getting tire. "Hey I know. Why don't' you lay down. Maybe you could return to the ice cream mountain," She suggested. "How does that sound?"

"Okay. I guess I could try," Skipper replied. He yawned. He was starting to get tired. The pain in his stomach and throat had subsided, his cheeks were dry and he wasn't afraid anymore. Well at least not terrified. "Marlene?" he asked, innocently.

"Yeah?"

"You won't let him get me while I'm sleeping like the boogie man, will you?" he asked.

"The boogie man? Of course not! I won't let him, or the boogie man get you," Marlene reassured. "As long as you are here, I will protect you."

Skipper turned around and hugged Marlene around her stomach. If it wasn't for her…Skipper didn't want to think about it. "I wuv you Marlene," He said into her fur.

Marlene was a little shocked at first. Touched, but a little shocked. She didn't know what to say to that. She shook it off and hugged him. "I. Love. You too, Skipper." She thought about it for a minute. It was normal for children to say that. But, was Skipper really a child now?

"He said he would act like a child," Private explained. He was standing in the door of the room. He watched Skipper turn around and hug Marlene when he first walked in. "I think he's starting to forget what he truly is." He believed that too. Skipper was either becoming a real child, or trying too hard and forgetting that he was an adult.

"Well that makes sense," Marlene replied. Skipper was still hugging her stomach. "I would too if I ever got the chance." She didn't mind Skipper's hug. And what he'd said didn't bother her much either. Nor was Privates presence. It was Kowalski who bothered her. "Why doesn't he like Skipper?" She asked.

"Who?" Private asked, "Kowalski?"

"Yeah, him."

"I don't know really. He and Skipper got off to a rough start. I guess he doesn't trust Skipper," Private guessed.

Marlene sighed. She didn't want Skipper to be afraid. She wanted him to be happy while he had the chance to. He was still and adult at heart. But right now… he had the chance to be free and happy. It might've been a mistake, but it was the break that Skipper needed. Maybe what everyone needed. And it seemed that the only one who had a problem with this was Kowalski. Maybe it was mean, but everyone needed a break from Skipper and his paranoia, and Skipper needed a break from himself. It was true. Skipper seemed to like his break. Like Private said, he's forgetting what he really is, an adult. It seems that a lot of the zoo inhabitants were forgetting what Skipper truly was. Marlene hadn't truly remembered until moments ago.

"It's a shame. I mean, if he was what he really is, an adult, then Kowalski might have a right to be angry. But if he said he was going to act like a child then Kowalski should've seen this coming. I just… we have to keep Skipper safe," Marlene replied.

"We do. Maybe Kowalski can learn from this. Think about it. If Skipper is enjoying his break, and no one else but Kowalski seems to have a problem with it, then maybe we could use this to help Kowalski. Maybe he's not angry, but short on patience," Private explained. He wasn't just afraid for Skipper anymore. He was afraid for children who might be transferred to the zoo. If Skipper could teach Kowalski patience (while of course under Private and Marlene's protection) then Kowalski would be able to tolerate almost anyone of any age. And Skipper would get a longer break from being a paranoid, stressed adult. It seemed like a win-win situation.

"Yeah, that could work. If Skipper likes being a kid, then we could put that likeness to same use. But we have to make sure he has fun in the process. We can't just use him. We have to give him room to be a kid," Marlene explained. She agreed with Private, instead of just letting things happen, they could have a goal. It would make things a little easier. But Skipper had to be kept safe and allowed to have fun in the process.

"For now, it's late, and we all need to get some sleep," Marlene said. She looked down at Skipper. He was already sleeping. He probably didn't hear a lot of the conversation. That was a good thing. "You go talk to Kowalski. Make sure Rico is with you in case he throws a fit. I'll make sure this little guy gets a good night's rest." She picked Skipper up and stood up.

Private smiled, and nodded. "I'll see what I can do Marlene." Then he walked out.

Marlene opened the blanked and placed Skipper down, his head on the pillow. Then she folded the blanket back on top of him. He was sandwiched in between two soft cushions. She smiled. He would get a good night's sleep tonight. She would have to sleep lightly. Just in case. She went over to her bed and laid down facing the door. Watching. But she soon fell victim of slumber.


	6. the first lost memory

"It doesn't matter Kowalski!" Private shouted frustrated. "He's a kid."

"He's not a kid! He's a devil. I don't care if he's a demonic angel, he's still demonic! And besides he's an adult," Kowalski shot back.

"No!" Private screamed. "He's not. Not anymore. He's starting to think like a child. I don't think he's pretending anymore Kowalski."

"How is that possible?" Kowalski challenged .

Private didn't know how to answer that. He didn't want to let Kowalski get near Skipper. But if that was the only way Kowalski would understand, then he'd have to. "I guess there's only one way to show you." He motioned to Rico.

Rico came up behind Kowalski and twisted his arms around his back.

"What are you doing?" Kowalski demanded annoyed. What was wrong with Rico? Why did he do that?

Private walked up to Kowalski, "Don't touch him," He ordered. He didn't want Kowalski to hurt Skipper. "Ok Rico."

Rico let him go. But he watched Kowalski closely. He didn't want Kowalski to do something he'd regret later. He didn't want him to hurt Skipper either.

Kowalski growled, but decided not to ask anything. He was more curious as to what Private had been talking about.

Marlene woke up in the middle of the night. She opened her eyes and saw two blue ones staring back at her. It made her jump, but she soon realized that it was just Skipper. He looked like he was about to cry.

"Hey buddy. What's wrong?" She asked scooping him up into her lap.

"I had a nightmare," Skipper explained sadly. He felt like he was going to cry. He wanted to. He hadn't had a nightmare like that in a while.

"What happened?" She asked kindly. She was worried about him.

Skipper burst into tears. He couldn't help it. He just cried, sobbing into Marlene's fur. He couldn't stop. He needed to stop crying but he couldn't. He was getting her fur wet again.

Marlene Pulled Skipper Up to her shoulders and hugged him. Whatever the nightmare was, it made him upset just to think about. "It's ok. It was just a dream. It wasn't real, ok?"

"O…k," Skipper sobbed. But he still couldn't stop crying. He wrapped his arms around her neck.

Marlene rocked him back and forth for a little while before asking, "What happened?"

Skipper sniffled. "You died. And Walksi, and Pivate too. And Wico. You all died," Skipper said solemnly. He was going to cry again. It was such a terrible dream. He didn't like when people died in his dreams. He didn't like death. Seeing people die… scared him. Seeing people die meant they were no longer living. No one would ever hear their voices or laughs or see their smiles, or feel their hugs and kisses. It was a scary thought. And to see a friend dead is worse.

"It was just a dream. Look. I'm still here. And Kowalski, Private, and Rico are just back at the penguin habitat. They're fine too," Marlene explained sympathetically. She felt bad for Skipper. No kid should see his best friends dead. It just wasn't right. "None of us are dead ok?"

Skipper nodded, afraid that if he talked again he'd start to cry. And Marlene's fur was already wet enough. "I'm sorry," He said sniffling. He was able to hold back tears. He still couldn't even out his breathing.

"Sorry?" Marlene asked confused, "About what?"

"I gotted you fur all wet," Skipper explained.

Marlene smiled, Skipper really was a sweet kid. "You don't have to be sorry Skipper. I knew you were going to get my fur wet. It will dry," She said calmly.

Skipper rested his head on her shoulder. He was nodding back to sleep when he heard a voice.

Marlene was watching Skipper, rubbing his back to try and calm him down. It seemed to be working, he was falling back to sleep. She was so focused on him that he didn't see the guys enter.

"What are you doing?" Kowalski asked. He didn't expect to see Marlene holding Skipper and rubbing his back in the middle of the night.

Skipper turned his head as far as he could without moving to see them. Marlene looked up at them, shocked and a little confused. She was shocked to see them. She honestly didn't expect to. It was quite late at night. She was confused by Kowalski's question. What was she doing? Wasn't it obvious? She was holding Skipper. "Hi guys," She managed to say.

"Hi Marlene," Private replied calmly. He was curious as to why she was holding Skipper too. But he was going to wait to find out. Guess that wasn't going to happen.

"What are you doing?" Kowalski repeated.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" Marlene countered calmly. Skipper didn't seem to be mad at Kowalski anymore. So she didn't need to be. If Skipper was ok with Kowalski, then she could be ok with him too. For now.

"Why are you holding him?" Kowalski asked.

Skipper turned around in Marlene's arms. "I had a nightmare," He said sadly. "You died, Walski, and Pivate, and Wico, and Marlene."

"Everyone has nightmares," Private said softly. He didn't know what to make of the content though. He did know that Skipper was afraid of them dying. It had always been a fear of his.

"Oh please," Kowalski spat. "Quit the act Skipper."

"Act? What act?" Skipper asked confused.

"Skipper?" Private asked carefully. He had to figure out how bad this was. "Think very hard now. Do you know who Dr. Blowhole is?" Private asked.

Skipper giggled. "Blowhole?" He asked laughing. "Who's he? He has a funny name. is he friendly?" He asked innocently.

Everyone stared at Skipper, wide eyed. Did he really forget who Blowhole was? Did he really just ask if the maniacal Dolphin was…_friendly_? This was bad real bad.

_**Sorry that's so short. It would've been too long with the added part. I need to add a little more to it before the added part is put up. And it was getting **_**LONG**_**. **_


	7. a helpful realization

"Ok maybe he just needs to sleep?" Private said nervously.

"I don't know but let's try it," Marlene agreed. "It's still the middle of the night. Kids can be delusional in the middle of the night. Right?" Skipper forgetting about his assumed arch nemesis, (she still didn't believe this evil dolphin existed) was a little frightening.

"Yeah, or he's just acting," Kowalski huffed.

Marlene shook her head and put Skipper back into the blanket. She turned back to the penguins and glared at Kowalski. "Get over yourself Kowalski. You know your inventions and little serums always backfire anyway. This accidental thing isn't any different." She marched up to the scientist. "Didn't you even take the time to consider the fact that the more he _acts_ the more he will actually _be_ a child? No you didn't, did you, because you were too focused on the wrongs to focus on anything else," she hissed.

"Marlene, Skipper is acting. ACTING!" Kowalski shot back. "That theory isn't even possible."

"Well it is actually," Private chimed in. "You invented something that made you very smart and then it backfired and made you quite …un-smart. So why can't this backfire and make Skippah a real child?" It made sense to him. If Kowalski's inventions can backfire who's to say this one won't? Skipper could be losing his memory of being an adult. First it'll be one memory at a time. But then it will be whole weeks, months, and years, just…gone. It was a very scary thought.

"Because…it just can't!" Kowalski growled annoyed.

Marlene sighed, Kowalski was being so difficult. But she was getting tired and wanted to go to sleep. "You guys should go back to the HQ and get yourselves some sleep. And Kowalski, I don't want to see you until you can deal with Skipper patiently," She added. "Go." She turned and went back to her bed.

Kowalski walked out cursing under his breath. Who did she think she was? Skippers guardian? Skipper didn't need a guardian, he could protect himself. Skipper was just acting. Act-ing. Nothing more. He wasn't 'becoming a real child' or anything like that. He was just acting. Kowalski was just the only one who saw it.

Private and Rico walked home behind Kowalski. Neither one wanted to mess with him, or talk to him for that matter. They didn't understand what was up with him. He was completely out of character and they had no clue as to why. It was frustrating and concerning. Why he had changed all of a sudden was very confusing. How all of his anger and annoyance was aimed towards Skipper was concerning. How Skipper forgot about Blowhole was also very, very concerning.

They slept the rest of the night.

"Yeah, he's the evil scary dolphin with a million lobster minions," Skipper informed later that morning when he was asked if he knew who Dr. Blowhole was. "Why?"

Marlene took a sigh of relief. "No reason," she replied.

Skipper thought for a moment. "Ok," he shrugged. It really didn't matter. He was fine with random questions, while he was a kid anyway. But he was curious as to what was up with Kowalski. "Marlene?" He asked innocently.

"Yes Skipper," Marlene replied.

"What's wrong with Walski?" He asked. He wanted to know why Kowalski was so angry. And why he had gotten so mad when he ate the cake.

Marlene didn't know how to answer that. She didn't know what was wrong with Kowalski, though she wished she did. Kowalski was so angry and frustrated with something. What that was she wasn't sure. "I don't know Skipper," She answered calmly.

Skipper looked down at the floor between his feet. "He doesn't like me," he said sadly. "He hates me."

"Oh Skipper," Marlene replied gently, "he doesn't hate you. He's just being a stubborn idiot that's all."

Skipper leaned into Marlene. His heart felt sad. He wanted Kowalski to like him.

Private and Rico walked into the otter's habitat.

"Hey guys," Marlene greeted calmly. "He remembers," she informs.

Private saw sadness on Skippers face. "What's the matter?" He asked.

Kowalski was outside of Marlene's room, just close enough to hear what they were saying.

"Skipper's upset that Kowalski doesn't like him," Marlene replied. "Poor thing." She felt sad for him. He cuddled into her side looking very depressed. It broke her heart.

Kowalski walked away. He walked through the zoo thinking about the events of the past few days. Maybe Marlene was right. Maybe they were both right. Kowalski remembered Skipper saying that he'd act like a child. So what if when Skipper tries to act like a child he really thinks he is a child? What if he can pull himself out of his child mind anytime he wanted? The leisure of changing from his regular mind to a child's! It explained everything! Private was right but Skipper wasn't becoming a child, he was choosing to be one. And when his regular mind worked back into his consciousness he had the choice of changing back to it or remaining in his child mind set. He wasn't losing his adult mind he was choosing not to use it. Yes! That's it. Skipper was choosing to be a child! Maybe that's what Kowalski was having trouble with. He was angry at Skipper for playing everyone. But he wasn't playing anyone. He was letting himself be a child. Marlene was right, he had to cool off. If Skipper was choosing to be a child then Kowalski had to treat him like one, not only in punishment but everything else too.

With that in mind he realized something. He had to apologize for his unruly behavior. He walked back to the otter habitat unsure about what he should say. He jumped into the habitat and paced around into the grass. What was he supposed to say? He walked over to a bush and grabbed his head trying to think.

All of a sudden Skipper popped out of the bush and yelled "BOO!"

"Ah!" Kowalski shouted as he fell backwards. He sat up for a minute staring at Skipper before bursting out with laughter. He couldn't help himself. Skipper had startled him into laughter. He fell back onto the grass.

Skipper giggled and walked over to Kowalski.

When Kowalski caught his breath he looked up at Skipper.

Skipper poked Kowalski's head. "I gotted you," he said happily.

Kowalskismiled. "Yes, yes you did."


End file.
